


two species, both alike in dignity: Garrus/Ashley

by Kahika



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Archived From Tumblr, F/M, Meta, Meta Essay, Nonfiction, Ship Manifesto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 00:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16862464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kahika/pseuds/Kahika
Summary: A short list of ''''canon evidence'''' for my pet ship, thoughts on its potential in fanworks, and some recs.





	two species, both alike in dignity: Garrus/Ashley

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for [stationlittle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stationlittle)'s [Non-Shepard Ships Week](http://omegastation.tumblr.com/tagged/nssweek/chrono). Very slight tweaks from its original incarnation on Tumblr, just to account for differences in platforms.
> 
> Most links have hover text.
> 
>  **Last rec update:** October 6th 2018

As a non-canon ship involving a character who apparently rarely leaves her room, I admit ~evidence~ is thin on the ground and takes some thick shipper goggles:

  * Ashley is the only ME1 squadmate whom Garrus never makes racist comments to [in the elevators](http://servantofclio.tumblr.com/post/143126606866/mass-effect-1-elevator-dialogues), and in fact [he compliments her combat skills](https://youtu.be/23Wd0an-dgU?t=2m26s).
  * From [the way he addresses her](http://pohutukaryl.tumblr.com/post/128769605396), Garrus undergoes a slow defrosting towards her throughout the trilogy, going from ["Gunnery Chief"](http://masseffect.skyfarer.net/159/) and "Chief Williams" in the first game's elevators to "Williams" on Horizon in the second to calling her "Ash" when talking about her to Shepard in the third.
  * The mail in _Mass Effect 3: Datapad_ includes [a text from Ashley calling it "good news" that Garrus returned to the _Normandy_](https://youtu.be/wkOdfgUvPVY?t=11s).
  * Shooting Ashley in the Citadel coup results in [Garrus confessing he "liked Williams"](https://youtu.be/LUzjJDjkik4?t=3m43s).
  * _Really_ stretching now, but [this teaser trailer for the first game is cute](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NGR4T8tmKQ).



So I'm mostly here to talk about the potential in fanworks, such as:

  * They have so much in their lives in common!
  * And in their personalities!
  * Opposites attract and could be so good for each other!
  * Potential tropes!



I've also got:

  * Recs!
  * Fewer exclamation points!
  * Less hover commentary on links!



Honestly, I started shipping it for the lulz after I saw [someone on TV Tropes point out that "one could make the very serious argument that [Ashley]'s essentially the human, female equivalent of Garrus Vakarian"](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/MassEffect1PartyMembers), and they do have a hell of a lot in common to bond over:

  * _Guns:_ Yeah, this is easy mode on the level of "they can eat the same food", but I'm easing you in here. By ME3, they both specialize in sniper and assault rifles. Imagine them nerding out and arguing over the best guns and mods the way James and Steve argue over vehicles and biotiball teams.
  * _Parental situations:_ They've both had difficult relationships with their fathers in their attempts to rebel against their family business (Ashley's teenage threats to "run away with the first guy that came along" vs. Garrus's bad behavior in C-Sec) that they handled very differently. Mama Vakarian presumably dies between the second and third games, and Ashley, having lost her father a few years before ME1, has the experience to help Garrus deal with losing a parent.
  * _Sisters:_ Whether it's complaining about them or lauding their latest achievements, they have a lot to talk about there.
  * _General devotion to their families:_ Ashley took emergency leave to walk her baby sister to school; Garrus sent Collector tissue samples to a medical institute and had Mordin pull strings with the Special Tactics Group in the hopes of curing his mother. With both their families on their species' home worlds when they're attacked in the third game, Ashley's in a sadly better position than most squadmates to understand Garrus's worries about his family's escape from Palaven.
  * _Sole Survivor Club membership:_ They've both lost squads under very different circumstances which they then also reacted to differently. With their different cultural viewpoints on mistakes (turians believe they are the fault of the person who put you in the position to make them; Ashley seems more inclined to blame the individual who made the mistake), they could help each other out with their survivor's guilt.
  * _Leadership:_ Ashley had good leadership scores in training, was briefly in charge of the 212, and as Lieutenant Commander, may have held a command position before she encountered Shepard on Earth; she ends up overseeing several teams [if sent to Hackett](http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/War_Assets/Alliance#Ashley_Williams). Garrus led the Archangel squad, can lead a suicide mission fire team, and rises through the turian military to command over the fleets. They understand the pressures of leadership and can help each other cope, as well as trade tips.
  * _Reach and flexibility:_ He was among the top ranks of hand-to-hand on a turian ship. She learned Alliance Marine hand-to-hand before even enlisting. ~~They fight crime!~~ They've got a challenge, someone to learn new tricks from, and lots of physical contact.



"But Kahika!" you may be thinking. "You have largely ignored the xenophobic elcor in the room! Is that not another thing they have in common?"

Damn right, it is.

Both characters undergo character development away from xenophobia, with Garrus able to start relationships with two women of other species and Ashley putting her life on the line for aliens. A relationship between Garrus and Ashley could be the peak of their mutual character development away from xenophobia, particularly Ashley's. What better way to realize you've truly accepted aliens / realized that turians aren't better than every other species than to fall in love with one? It's an interspecies union that can heal the wounds of Shanxi with a descendant of someone who was there.

It could even help their acceptance of species besides each other's. Ashley's never had anything against quarians, and even comes to view Tali as a sister. Garrus is as bad about quarians in the elevators as he is about krogan. Ashley's friendship with Tali could help Garrus put aside his old notions about quarians on the first _Normandy_ , instead of over the course of two more tours with her. On the other hand, Ashley _hates_ the geth after losing her squad and Kaidan and thinking Tali lost her homeworld to them; they are the only non-Reaper species she still dislikes in ME3. If Garrus has worked with Legion, he (with Tali) could help Ashley trust the geth more for the Rannoch missions and the end of that war.

That particular character development isn't the only way they think alike. Though they went about it different ways, they can understand each other's urges to "do some good" (Ashley on why she accepted Spectre status) and "make a difference" (Garrus on quitting C-Sec). They have a similar dry sense of humor, and the snarky flirting of Ashley's Renegade romance seems in line with the teasing Garrus enjoys in his romances with Tali and Shepard. By the time of her Citadel drinking contest with Shepard, Ashley "glamorous and beautiful superstar Spectre agent" Williams catches up to Garrus in cockiness.

Yet there's also levels of opposites attracting to Garrus and Ashley, with Garrus's renegade idealism and Ashley's almost turian devotion to the Alliance. Her cynical or realist view on the world also provides a counterpoint to his complete confidence in Shepard and near optimism about the Reaper War in ME3. They have different viewpoints on spirituality, too, with Ashley's strong belief in a God contrasting Garrus's belief in the turian concept of spirits (or ambivalence or agnosticism, depending on how you see [that mismatched subtitle](https://youtu.be/P2HibxxzhZE?t=30s)). However, some of their differences could do each other a world of good. Ashley's respect for order could help temper Garrus's need for vengeance. Garrus's loyalty and, indeed, canonical respect for Ashley's abilities could help boost the woman who didn't think she deserved her promotions.

As far as tropes go, they are the Romeo and Juliet of the space age (there is a very real reason for this manifesto title). They could have a secret relationship while Ashley worries about her surname and her military reputation, potentially with fake relationships on the side if they really want to cover it up. Alternately, as soldiers and squadmates, they could flirt in the field and patch each other up after missions. Interspecies awkwardness in the bedroom and cultural differences at large are always fun. And then there's their parents: Fic after fic seems to depict Castis Vakarian as old fashioned and disapproving of a relationship with Shepard; imagine how he'd feel about a relationship with a Williams. Mama Williams has seen what happened to both her husband and her daughter as a result of Shanxi, so she might not be in favor either.

##  Recs

  * [**"Two Species, Both Alike in Dignity"**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6303586) by [Musa_Nocturna](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Musa_Nocturna/pseuds/Musa_Nocturna): It's been 26 years since First Contact, and with the Normandy project being an unparalleled success, the human Systems Alliance and turian Hierarchy are working together more closely than ever. That means everyone's ready to get along now... right?
  * [**"A single woman in possession of a good name"**](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13941771) by [keita52](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keita52/pseuds/keita52): In an effort to continue the peace bought by the end of the First Contact War, a custom of human-turian arranged marriages has arisen. Such an arranged marriage is generally considered to bring prestige to both sides. (AU)
  * [**"Ulysses"**](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8501255/1/Ulysses) by [Demonic Angel Clone](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/810892/Demonic-Angel-Clone): Ashley's walls crumble, looking down at the slumbering infant. "Lucy…needs a home." With his free hand, he wraps an arm around Ashley's waist and looks her in the eye, colbalt blue meeting warm almond. "We could be her home." Set during ME3 and beyond. (AU, established relationship)
  * **[Meta for enemies to friends to lovers potential](http://breadedsinner.tumblr.com/post/178112943897/so-i-totally-support-shakarian-but-im-kind-of)** by a few users, with evidence and rebuttals
  * **[My headcanons on how they fell in love](http://pohutukaryl.tumblr.com/post/147889322161/question-time-favorite-ashleygarrus-headcanons)** , some of which are in my fic
  * **_[The Heart Sees](http://sugar--free.tumblr.com/post/136785601287/the-heart-sees-garrus-vakarian-x-ashley)_** fanmix by sugar--free
  * **[Headbutt art](http://zapperthecat.tumblr.com/post/165654220994/commission-for-pohutukaryl)** by Zapper the Kat
  * **[Afterglow art](http://bethadastra.tumblr.com/post/176168777782/100-or-101-for-the-erotic-prompts-smutty-july)** by Beth Adastra
  * [**"Turning Points"**](https://masseffectkink.dreamwidth.org/1588.html?thread=1420084#cmt1420084), by an anon on the Mass Effect Kink Meme ( **explicit** ): Ashley disapproves of interspecies relationships. And then Garrus goads her.
  * [**"... You tell me to kiss a turian, I'll ask which cheek"**](http://masseffectkink.livejournal.com/7674.html?thread=37040634#t37040634), also from the Kink Meme ( **explicit** ): Garrus and Ashley hook up during the Citadel party.
  * [**"The Sniper's Way"**](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5439722) by [ApocalypseThen](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ApocalypseThen/pseuds/ApocalypseThen): Caught in the open by a geth patrol, Ashley dives for cover. With Garrus watching over her from his sniper's nest she should be relatively safe. Until something weird starts to happen.
  * Okay, you caught me, _I_ write this ship. [An unfinished, slightly AU, frequently **explicit** series](http://archiveofourown.org/series/254344) of it (though ["With All the Trimmings"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5602567), a Christmas fic, is pretty standalone), [a soulmate AU Big Bang](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14801598), and [a gifset drabble](http://pohutukaryl.tumblr.com/post/129478387641/breadedsinner-abridged-you-know-its-funny) that's actually safe for work.



If you like the idea, please go forth and write / draw / render / mod / gif / edit / fanmix / vid / roleplay / take cosplay photos / ??? for them! The ship could use some more fanworks.


End file.
